Introduction
Continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) are two standard practices of DevOps that enable software engineers and web developers to continuously integrate code changes, test them, and then trigger automated deployments. CI/CD aims to reduce the feedback loop between development and operations and roll out changes quickly, cheaply, and reliably. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Bitbucket are popular platforms for developing and orchestrating CI/CD pipelines.
The objective of this article is to guide readers on binding a Bitbucket repository to AWS for seamless CI/CD workflows. Specifically, it will focus on creating an EC2 server, configuring deployment pipelines on Bitbucket, setting up an AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and running a demo application.
Understanding AWS CodePipeline
AWS CodePipeline is an automated application release process service that enables developers to rapidly and reliably deliver features and updates. It helps accelerate the development cycle for software release by automating the build, test, and deploy process. It integrates with a variety of third-party services such as GitHub, Bitbucket, Jenkins, and Amazon ECR, and helps teams collaborate and deliver features faster.
The primary components of an AWS CodePipeline are the source, build, deploy, and stage actions. The source action is the initial step in the pipeline and defines the source code from which the build process will be executed. The build action compiles and packages the code, test suites are executed, environment configurations are applied, and other related tasks, are carried out. The deploy action pushes the updated version of the application to staging or production environments on AWS, thereby making it available to end users. Finally, the stage action is a manual quality control checkpoint, where application changes are approved, before being pushed to production.
Using CodePipeline with Bitbucket allows teams to leverage the features of both services for an end-to-end Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline. This setup automates quality checks as well as the deployment process, consequently improving the overall development process and speeding up the delivery of applications and features. Additionally, Bitbucket’s integration with CodePipeline allows teams to easily track changes to the source code, granting greater transparency and collaboration.
Prerequisites
An AWS account: Users will need to sign up for an AWS account in order to use AWS services.
A Bitbucket repository: Users will need to create a Bitbucket repository in order to store their source code and configuration.
Necessary access rights: Users will need to ensure that they have the necessary access rights to be able to set up, configure, and maintain their AWS account and Bitbucket repository.
4. Step-by-step Guide:
a. Creating an AWS Account:
i. Go to the AWS homepage and click “Sign Up” to create your account.
ii. Fill out the required fields and click “Create Account and Continue”.
iii. Verify your account by providing credit/debit card details.
b. Creating a Bitbucket Repository:
i. Log in to your Bitbucket account.
ii. Navigate to the “Repositories” tab and click “Create” on the top-right corner.
iii. Enter the relevant details such as the Repository name and click “Create repository”.
Configuring Bitbucket Repository
Log in to AWS Console and open the CodePipeline dashboard.
Click Create Pipeline, then Amazon S3 for the source provider.
Select the S3 buckets to provide the source files with which to build the application.
For the build provider, select Bitbucket, and in the choices that appear, pick Repository.
From the Bitbucket section, enter the owner’s user name, repository name, and branch, then click Connect to Bitbucket.
On the next page, you will be prompted to choose an authentication method for connecting the CodePipeline with the repository hosting service.
Once the connection between your repository and CodePipeline has been established, choose the environment in which the artifacts will be deployed.
After you’ve selected the deploy provider, pick Amazon S3, and if needed, configure any provider-specific settings.
Click Next, then enter the name of the pipeline and an optional description.
On the Review page, review the choices you’ve made. If everything looks good, click Create Pipeline.
Now, you need to create a webhook in Bitbucket to trigger CodePipeline when the repository changes.
On the Bitbucket Repository, create a new webhook by clicking on Settings > Webhooks > Add webhook.
Copy the AWS CodePipeline URL shown at the Amazon S3 source setup step in the CodePipeline dashboard, and paste this in the URL of Ok to trigger field in the webhook.
Select Active and ensure that Trigger on is set to Push.
Submit the webhook.
Now, your CodePipeline should be integrated with the Bitbucket repository.
To configure repository settings such as branch selection and artifact handling, edit the source settings for the pipeline.
From the Actions drop-down menu for the source stage, select Edit.
Here, you can specify which branch should be monitored and which files will be deployed from the repository.
Choose the installation and deployment options accordingly.
After all the needed settings have been configured, save the settings. The CodePipeline is now ready to recognize changes to the repository and begin the build process.
Creating an AWS CodePipeline
Launching the AWS Management Console and Navigating to the CodePipeline Service:
To access the AWS Management Console, open a web browser and https://console.aws.amazon.com.
Log in to your Amazon Web Services account using the username and password provided.
Once logged in to the Management Console, you will be provided with a list of all available AWS services.
To open and start working with the AWS CodePipeline service, search for and click on “CodePipeline”.
Explaining the Different Stages in a Typical CI/CD Pipeline and Their Significance:
Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) are two valuable processes in modern software development. CI/CDPipeline is an automated workflow that allows developers to rapidly, continuously, and safely deliver updates to customer applications. This process involves some stages which have their respective significance.
The Source stage initially checks out the code and scans the code to identify any potential issues.
The Build stage is responsible for assembling the application components and running tests.
The Test stage verifies that the code is functioning properly, by running tests such as unit, integration, and acceptance tests.
The Deploy stage then pushes the software to production and monitors it for performance and stability.
The last stage is the Release stage which involves making the changes available to the customers and recording metrics of code deployment.
Walkthrough Process of Creating a New CodePipeline:
Once you have opened the CodePipeline service in the AWS Management Console, click “Create Pipeline.”
Name the pipeline and choose an IAM role from the drop-down menu.
In the “Source location” section, select “Bitbucket” from the drop-down menu.
Enter the Bitbucket repository URL, username and password, and click “Connect”.
In the “Configure Build” step, select the specific build provider and enter the build settings accordingly.
In the “Configure Deploy” step, select the deployment method and enter the settings accordingly.
Finally, click “Run Pipeline” to start the CodePipeline.
Configuring Pipeline Stages
The importance of configuring the pipeline stages of a software development cycle cannot be overstated; it’s a vital step in ensuring optimal performance and understanding how pipeline processes interact with one another. Configuring pipeline stages can help reduce latency, identify and address errors and potential bottlenecks in the system, simplify proper versioning of development and codes, and standardize the development process.
The source stage is responsible for retrieving and managing source code. This can include hosting, storing, and versioning of source code. The build stage is responsible for setting up a build environment and running the necessary build actions. This can include compiling code, running tests, versioning builds, and other necessary tasks. The deploy stage is responsible for delivering applications and features to customers. This can include deploying code to different environments such as staging, production, and test environments.
Configuring pipeline stages requires selecting the best build tools for the job. AWS CodeBuild is an example of a build tool that simplifies the process of discovering and integrating cloud services into the build process. With CodeBuild, users can quickly configure, maintain, and manage build environments for secure and reliable builds.
Once the build process is configured, users will need to configure deployment options such as AWS Elastic Beanstalk. This will help automate the deployment process and simplify the process of containerizing the application. To get started, users can log into the AWS Management Console, select the Elastic Beanstalk service, and create a new application. The user must then select the application environment, deployment method, and configuration settings. Once these steps are complete the user can deploy the application and follow the instructions in the application wizard to complete the deployment process.
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